Pursuing a death penalty sentence isn't cheap, but some argue you can't put a price on justice.

Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, says it's not fair that Lake and Porter counties are lumped in with metropolitan Chicago.

Lake County has seen success in offering young people alternatives to incarceration, including home detention, day and evening reporting programs, residential alternatives and foster care.

Allen, Jackson, Lake, Marion and Vanderburgh counties are the pilot areas for the On My Way Pre-K program. To be eligible, families must have an income that is 127 percent below the federal poverty line. The child must also be 4 years old by Aug. 1. Applications are due March 5.

Judges in Allen, Elkhart, Floyd, Lake, Marion and Vanderburgh counties will preside over the commercial courts for a pilot project authorized by the Indiana Supreme Court.

Portage resident Myrna Newgent established the endowment with the Indiana Natural Resources Foundation to support long-term stewardship work to maintain the Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Illinois should get a chance to publicly object to a proposed northwest Indiana quarry on the Kankakee River.